A Hard Day's Night
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Movie Reviews of A Hard Day's Night
Movie Review: You can't buy love but can finally buy A Hard Day's Night!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the best films to feature The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night captures a lost era in pop music and cinema. Writer Alan Owun followed the band around as part of his research incoporating actually comments and observations that the band made into his funny screenplay. Night represents a high water mark for the band; it's the first and only album where all the material was written by John & Paul. Lennon was very prolific during this period composing the bulk of the 13 tracks that ended up on the UK soundtrack and spread out over two albums in the US.Richard Lester's direction was sharp, witty and groundbreaking when Night came out. His approach shaped the film, music and television world for sometime. The Monkees television series was an attempt to recreate some of Lester's tricks used in this film and Help! the follow up. In many respects, Lester's musical sequences are among the first "music videos" in terms of style and content.
The DVD comes stuffed with extras. The shorts and comments from those directly or indirectly involved in the film is still quite interesting. While I admire MGM/UA's version of Yellow Submarine (it looks stunning and the unfinished sequences and interviews with those who did the voiceovers are quite interesting), I wish that they had taken this approach to that film. The only think missing of note are comments from the most important folks involved--John, Paul, George and Ringo. Since they put forth most of their views in the Anthology perhaps it was felt that including them here would just duplicate that experience. Regardless, we could do with some fresh insight from Paul and Ringo and even audio commentary from Lennon's many interviews would have been welcome.
The picture quality is sharp and crisp. A lot of care was obviously taken in the transfer to DVD. This is the second time around for the film and it is an improvement over the first although some fans would be hard pressed to tell the difference.
The sound is nothing short of stunning and hopefully represents the type of upgrades we will see on the soundtrack album when it is re-released. One of the best early albums The Beatles made, A Hard Day's Night has held up remarkable well nearly 40 years later. Extras that might have been included (but aren't) could have included a DVD Audio or SACD version of the album, a replica of the press book and one sheet that came with the movie (suitable for framing of course). Still, the extras included here are nice and informative if not always as groundbreaking as the film itself.
A great DVD that recaptures the glory of early Beatlemania, A Hard Day's Night stands as one of the best rock movies ever made. It's well worth purchasing.
Movie Review: A CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Summary: 5 Stars
The budget was about $500,000 and it took less than four months to complete. But in 1964, when "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" was released in the US, it was immediately clear that something much more than just a pop culture phenomenon was in the process of unfolding on a global scale. Maybe it had something to do with the first wave of healing that came after the assassination of JFK. Whatever it was, there was some kind of mystical connection to a widely shared emotion that lifted the Beatles and their music to iconic levels of the highest order. And kept them there. There simply had never been anything like them or their songs.
As they grew artistically, their music morphed -- celebration, exploration and introspection all became elements of their remarkable catalog of songs. But more than anything else, what struck such a chord in "A Hard Day's Night" was the simple ebullience for life itself. In the film, each Beatle was quickly defined: John Lennon as wry and sarcastic, Paul McCartney as witty and cute, George Harrison as thoughtful and quiet and Ringo Starr as idiosyncratic and outlandish.
Not only that, their collective energy, irreverence and self-deprecating wit was perfectly mirrored in the fresh and unexpected film style that pretended to capture a typical day in the life of the fab four. With jump cuts and in camera effects, the faux documentary was not without a dash of farce and a pinch of anarchism. And all in glorious black and white. Clearly, this was not another cheeseball Elvis movie clone. Could it be, well, art and entertainment?
In early preproduction, Lennon and McCartney were instructed to write six songs for what was then an untitled film based on a screenplay by Alun Owen. Lennon encouraged the filmmakers to base the title on one of Ringo's witticisms. When that was locked in, he and McCartney came up with the title song overnight.
Much credit must go to former Beatles' manager Brian Epstein who was no doubt deluged with film offers. And to director Richard Lester and producer Walter Shenson who backed risky creative decisions that made this film a timeless entertainment that still works its magic on a new generation of Beatles fans.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the release of the band's first single, "Love Me Do," in Great Britain, Miramax is distributing a superb two disc DVD set -- almost three years in the making -- that not only includes a flawless, digitally remastered film transfer, but also "Give me Everything," a companion disc anthology that features hours of rare and new material -- so much in fact that this column does not have the space to detail it. Highest recommendation.
Movie Review: A Great Days' Work
Summary: 5 Stars
A Hard Days Night, the Beatles first film, became a classic quite by accident. Filmed in black and white(because it was cheaper) and short on plot, United Artist was simply trying to cash in on the wave of success that the Beatles were riding in 1964. The film was meant to showcase the Beatles music more than anything else, because that's what the fans wanted. By not having a heavy plot, John, Paul, George and Ringo were able to act more naturally and that resulted in the film looking more like a documentary of the bands' daily life in the throes of "Beatlemania" rather than a pop band exploitation film.
Director Richard Lester left it up to the Beatles, through their energy and sense of humor, to keep things moving and they delivered. Throughout, you get a slice of their individual personalities, Johns' sarcasm, Pauls' charm, Georges' elusiveness and Ringos' wittiness.The interaction between them and their" manager and roadie" in the film give a glimpse of what being on the road constantly must have been like. They gripe, they snipe at each other and they get into mischief just to releive the boredom of travel and being stuck in one place until it's time to go on stage again.There are no tv sets flying out of hotel rooms but there are hints of what would come years down the road when r&r bands began trashing their quarters due to pent up energy and frustration at being "stuck" in one place for too long.
The Beatles and their music are the stars of the movie. Songs written for the film are interspersed throughout, culminating in a concert at the end. Unfortuanetely they lip-sync the performance but that is probably because the audio technology available at that time would not have served the Beatles well if they actually had played "live".Even so, you get the idea what a live performance of the Beatles was like at that time with fans screaming and jumping throughout.
These days Hard Days Night in seen by many film critics including Roger Ebert, as an art film.What was probably thought of as a teen throwaway film in it's time became a film for all times.Of all Beatle films, this is the best but I would recommend pairing this one with their swan song film, "Let It Be", if you can find a copy somewhere. Currently that film is unavailable for some reason but it shows where the Beatles went as a band in just a few short years. In the studio they bicker, they look bored and they seem to be tired of each other and the whole idea of being Beatles anymore....quite a contrast to Hard Days Night, where they are fresh, exuberant and still hungry to be the greatest, which they were and still are....
Movie Review: Fab -- A very clean old movie
Summary: 5 Stars
"A Hard Day's Night" makes most critics' best-ever lists. It's widely considered an electrifying mix of great music and hip comedy, both a time capsule of the swinging '60s and a timeless entertainment. Roger Ebert calls it "one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies." Respect hasn't led to respectful treatment. Legal wrangling followed "A Hard Day's Night" throughout its home video life, resulting in oddities like the "tribute to John Lennon" musical prologue tacked on for VHS. The first DVD version, from MPI in 1997, disappeared after a few months of distribution.
Here, finally, is an up-to-date rendition worthy of the film.
"A Hard Day's Night" looks and sounds about as good as could be expected. The carefully lit black-and-white images should please most viewers -- even though they're on the flat side, with persistent minor speckling. The stereophonic songs swing as they must, smoking the tracks on Capitol's (shamefully outdated) soundtrack CD. (The MPI video had significantly worse sound but deeper contrasts.) Try this: Put on the Capitol version of "Tell Me Why" and then play the movie version. Perhaps Capitol can tell us why they continue to sell 15 year old Beatles CDs.
The film, shot in 35mm, is presented in widescreen, letterboxed with a ratio of about 1.66:1, enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The spiffed-up audio comes via Dolby Digital, with the musical numbers in stereo.
The first disc contains the movie as well as "Things They Said Today," a new promo film that gives the big picture. The second disc is all interviews, arranged by category (cast, crew, etc.).
Martin Lewis, a Beatles historian and pal to most of the filmmakers, conducted 30 video interviews for the package. They include key players -- Martin, director Richard Lester, United Artists exec David Picker, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor ("Star Wars") and Beatles publicist Tony Barrow -- as well as those who were just lucky to find themselves working on a film project "at the center of the universe."
The reminiscences get infusions of energy from upbeat clips, some amplifying the talkers' points and others making Beatle-esque visual jokes. The production was extensively filmed and photographed, with hours of that material first seen in this collection. The interviews are tightly edited, surprisingly focused and often a great deal of fun. It becomes clear that contributing to the film profoundly changed the lives of most of these people.
Movie Review: The Beatles and Richard Lester invented the music video!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's amazing how many people at my high school like the Beatles. I think there are more Beatles fans at my school than there are Backstreet Boys or N Sync fans. The Beatles even made more money last year (mostly due to the "1" CD) than either of those bands! They're the hottest band again; something that I never thought I'd see happen, ever since I first heard them about 10 years ago when I was 5 years old. Plus I don't think most people realize The Beatles and director Richard Lester were pioneers of what would eventually become music videos, with this movie and "Help!"But anyway, about "A Hard Day's Night," it's funny looking back and remembering that I didn't even like the movie when I first saw it. I guess I just didn't get it. I was young; I guess I thought that The Beatles would be in a serious movie or something. And I didn't get the humor either. But now, a few years later, it's one of my favorite movies in the world. I absolutely love it!!!
The Beatles are surprisingly good as actors. In my opinion, Paul was really trying to be a good actor the most. Look at the scene early in the film where they're in the hotel room and the grandfather has the line about "invites to gambling clubs!!" Paul is also in the shot; look at his face; he's trying so hard to look real in the situation (sort of a "reaction shot" or something) while the grandfather is speaking.
Also, Ringo has some of the best lines. I love when he says "There ya' go! Hiding behind a smokescreen of bourgeois cliches!" It's so funny, because the script has so many exaggerated parodies of what they really say!
I've been waiting for an exceptional DVD transfer for a few years now. I hope this is it. It should have the original mono soundtrack on it. One reason I say that is, the stereo version of some slight differences in the songs. For example, in the stereo mix of "If I Fell" Paul's voice audibly cracks. Also, is it me or are a lot of the songs slowed down? I guess when they filmed The Beatles lip-synching to the songs, the tape was at the wrong speed or something. Anyway, I also hope to see better DVD's of "Help!" and "Magical Mystery Tour" really soon!!!